Loved for its focus on family secrets, the macabre, and the grotesque, Southern Gothic is having a resurgence. This class will wade into modern takes on historical tenets of the genre, give tips on creating a Gothic atmosphere in your writing, and make recommendations for further reading.
This session emphasizes the ways writers can incorporate symbolism and archetypes found in fairy tales and myths in order to strengthen these inherent associations within the confines of story.
AND THEN THE MURDERS BEGAN: WRITING GREAT FIRST PARAGRAPHS WITH LUCY A. SNYDER
2:00 — 3:00 P.M. CST
Author Marc Laidlaw recently wrote, “The first line of almost any story can be improved by making sure the second line is, ‘And then the murders began.'” While often true, most writers can’t actually use this technique. In this class, we will examine the first paragraphs of recent award-winning short stories to show why (and how) they work to hook readers. Afterward, we’ll work on improving paragraphs in progress.
THE BEAUTY IN THE BEAST: WRITING TRAUMA HORROR WITH HUMANITY WITH KAREN RUNGE
3:00 — 4:00 P.M. CST
Let's take a look at real monsters and traumatic subjects: how to write a disturbing scene with insight and compassion, and how to utilize extreme themes in a way that enriches the emotive power of your story.
We will look at different ways of doing character description: concise, lengthy, on the run, physical, metaphorical, etc., and consider what each provides.